Features |
July 19, 2012

Sit, Stay, Subscribe

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BarkBox pampers your pet, monthly

You know the type – over-pampered, over-Prozac’d New Yorkers incapable of eating anything that isn’t locally sourced or certified organic. Just to be clear, we’re not talking about people here, we’re talking about their dogs.

If you’re the overindulgent parent of one of these coddled canines, you’re going to love BarkBox – a subscription service that delivers a fresh supply of dog goodies to your door every month. Toys, gizmos, bones and chews, and the more utilitarian collars and leashes, all healthy, unique, and geared to address the discovery gap that co-founder Matt Meeker says inspired the product. “There are so many cool pet suppliers out there that no one’s finding,” he explained.

Launched at the start of this year, BarkBox subscriptions have exploded, due in part to a Fab.com partnership. But the box, says Meeker, is only the beginning – the company plans to offer customers the ultimate resource for “the dog lifestyle”. In the near-term, that means content: the first in a series of animated dog cartoons will be released as soon as next week (co-founder Henrik Werdelin’s wife is an animator).

And considering Meeker’s lineage – he co-founded Meetup – we expect an off-line community component isn’t too far off. For now, we’ll take the monthly surprises, which keep our kids dogs happy – at least until the next one arrives.